


Fridge Magnets and Mud Pies

by cazmalfoy



Series: Remember Me [3]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Ghost!Owen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 21:18:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6582784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cazmalfoy/pseuds/cazmalfoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even in death, Owen seemed determined to irritate Ianto as much as possible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fridge Magnets and Mud Pies

It was eight am on a Saturday morning and Brad was already awake and roaming around the kitchen trying to find something to eat. He knew he should make a proper breakfast – something healthy – but he didn’t really care. He wanted a nice wholesome breakfast, consisting of nothing more than a chocolate bar and a can of coke as he watched something other than cartoons for once.

Jack had pushed his way into their bed a few hours ago, wriggling in between his fathers, elbowing Brad in the stomach and various other places that were slightly more painful, before resting his head on Ianto's shoulder and falling back to sleep. All the while, not managing to wake the other man once.

He had managed to get another couple of hours himself, but he had woken up a short while later as a result of a very strange dream. There had been a dinosaur, javelin and a CD player involved: Although, the more he tried to remember, the harder it was to decide what those three items had in common.

With his head halfway in the fridge, trying to find the coke Ianto stashed at the back – far away from the prying eyes of Jack and their goddaughter Lowri – Brad froze when he heard movement behind him.

He hadn’t heard any one come down the stairs which, considering how hyperactive Jack could get, was a virtual impossibility. Even Ianto made some noise when he moved, but there had been nothing. No tell tale sign of anyone approaching him.

Slowly he straightened up, almost afraid to turn to scan the kitchen. Years of working for Torchwood had taught him that there was a possibility of every worst fear you ever had coming true and he wasn’t in the mood for realising his worst fear in the kitchen at 8am on a Saturday, wearing nothing but his pyjamas.

Brad expelled the breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding when he saw that the kitchen was empty. "I’m losing my mind," he muttered to himself, closing the refrigerator and flicking the kettle on instead.

He almost jumped out of his skin when he was answered with a dry comment and a tired chuckle. "You must be if you’re talking to yourself."

Turning around, he glared at the Welshman standing in the doorway. Like Brad, Ianto was wearing nothing but his pyjama bottoms and his hair was standing up at odd angles. "That’s not funny," Brad growled, pointing an accusing finger at his husband.

Ianto frowned and stepped fully into the room, only stopping when he was stood in front of Brad. "What’s not?"

"Making me think I was imaging someone in the room and then acting like you’ve only just come downstairs."

"Brad? I  _have_ only just come downstairs," Ianto pointed out, concern shining in his eyes at his lover’s odd behaviour.

Their eyes met and both men frowned in confusion. "But if that wasn’t you… Who the hell was in our kitchen earlier?"

~

Gwen stood in the middle of the kitchen, her hands on her hips as she surveyed the scene in front of her. Nothing seemed unusual. Well, if she ignored the fact that Jack and Lowri were baking and the kitchen now resembled a winter wonderland that the tidy perfectly organised and well oiled machine Ianto's kitchen usually looked like.

"I don’t get it," she called through to the living room where Ianto was with Brad, trying to pretend he wasn’t interested in the state of the other room. "Nothing seems to be wrong to me," she added, leaving the children alone to make pastry shapes in peace.

"I swear to you, there was someone else in there this morning," Brad insisted, jabbing a finger in the direction of the kitchen.

Gwen and Ianto exchanged a confused and somewhat concerned look. "Maybe you were just tired?" she offered.

Brad groaned in annoyance. "I was  _not_ imagining things. There was someone, or some _thing,_ in there this morning and it wasn’t due to sleep deprivation!"

At that moment the kitchen door swung open and Jack ran in, heading straight for Ianto who grimaced when he saw that his son was covered from head to toe in flour and pastry clung to his dark brown hair.

"Daddy! What does ‘bollocks’ mean?

~

The next two weeks passed without incident. Ianto had tried to apologise to Brad for implying his husband was losing his mind, but Brad had waved his hand, dismissing the other’s apologies.

Jack had been ordered to never say the word ‘bollocks’ ever again, while Gwen had spent the entire day trying to convince Lowri into not saying it in front of Rhys.

None of them could figure out where the young boy had learnt the word from, even though Jack had insisted it had been spelt out on the alphabet fridge magnets. Although, when Gwen, Ianto and Brad had looked, the magnets hadn’t been arranged in  _any_ words, let alone words a three-year-old should not know.

Brad paused in front of Jack’s room as he passed. He could hear his son talking to someone, although he couldn’t hear the exact words, but it was clear that he was discussing something he felt strongly about.

Reaching out and grabbed hold of Ianto as he passed, Brad pulled him closer and pressed a finger against his lips, indicating that he should listen too. As they stood there, the words became clearer and they realised Jack was talking about his toy pterodactyl flying along side his toy RAF plane in a desperate bid to help the flying blue box save the world.

Deciding that he wanted to know who Jack was talking to, Ianto broke away from Brad’s grip and pushed the door open. The small boy didn’t stop playing with his toys when his father’s entered the room, although he did look up and offer them a wide grin.

"Hey, kid," Brad greeted, sitting cross-legged in front of Jack and reaching for a toy aeroplane. "What are you playing?"

"Myfanawy and me are helping the Doctor save the world," Jack informed him very matter-of-factly.

Both Ianto and Brad’s mouths fell open in surprise at the words that fell from Jack’s mouth. "Who are they?" Brad questioned.

Jack held up the dinosaur, "This is Myfanawy and… I can’t show you the Doctor ‘cause he’s not here yet."

"Where… Where did you learn those names?" Ianto stammered, feeling his heart race in his chest.

Jack frowned up at the empty space next to him. "Uncle Owen told me them." He pointed at the space.

The sound of blood rushing in his ears got louder and Ianto could barely hear himself ask, "Uncle Owen?"

Jack nodded excitedly. "He helps me learn words and we fight aliens together." He indicated to the toys in front of him.

"The fridge magnets…"

He nodded again, grinning widely. "Uncle Owen can’t draw so he used them."

Brad and Ianto exchanged bewildered looks and both got to their feet quickly. "Jack, is Uncle Owen here now?"

Jack shook his head, a sad look spreading across his previously happy features. "He’s not always here. He said he’s going to show Lowri to make a mud-pie for Auntie Gwen."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth, Ianto turned and fled from the room, running down the stairs and grabbing his mobile phone. "Gwen! Where’s Lowri?"

" _In the garden_."

"Check on her," he instructed. "Please. Just humour me."

Gwen sighed and he could hear her opening the backdoor and yelling across the lawn to her daughter. "Lowri? What are you… Where did you get that pan? Ianto, why is my daughter putting mud into a pan?"

Ianto explained as best – and quickly as he could, only to receive an annoyed growl on the other end of the line. 

"Well, that figures. I swear, if Owen wasn’t already dead, I’d kill him myself."


End file.
